UFC 114: Rashad Evans wrangles a win over Rampage Jackson in a snoozer of a fight (Fight Video)

Here is a truism: the UFC depends on our addiction to cheap thrills to cash in on fights like the one they sold off as a headliner between Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans last night. How bad was it? Well you head the boos from fans not to mention a fight that, more often than not, looked like a boxing match instead of an all-out mixed martial arts contest. Google Quinton Rampage Jackson vs Rashad Evans UFC 114 video.

So what went wrong? Well, nothing really. Things played out the way we expected. We had seen this coming a mile and called it right here. We had even suggested that the whole thing be put on for free as a token of fan appreciation. The fan who yelled “I want my money back!” at the end of the fight would certainly have appreciated it.

There just was nothing in Rashad Evans and Rampage Jackson or their styles to make this an interesting fight at all. And win or lose none of them would have been in a position to challenge Shogun for the light heavyweight title as rumored. Not Rampage and certainly not Rashad.

As things turned out, the more motivated pugilist, Rashad Evans, won – and in the process proved that he had developed a lot as a person and a fighter. The knockdown and near knockout at the beginning of the 3rd found proved that Rashad had a tough chin inspite of the way he was knocked out cold in the Machida fight. The fight also proved that Rampage Jackson was in the audience watching this fight from the outside instead of the octagon where he belonged – and only he can tell us why that was.

The year-long lay-off (the so-called “rust” defense), the cutting of weight from a doughy 250lbs to 205lbs, the resignation from UFC and the B.A. Baracus brouhaha aside, there was a little tell-tale detail about mind-set before the fight. Weeks before the UFC 114, Rashad Evans and Rampage Jackson gave interviews about their impending fight. Rashad Evans was within his body: centered. Rampage Jackson appeared out of sorts – suspended somewhere between his physical head and a faraway place only he knew about. If you were looking for a reason why Rampage was gonna lose his fight last night, this was one of them.